Not anymore
by Nara Barb
Summary: Following Kagome's advice, Sango decides to change her behaviour towards Miroku. How will the monk react being now the one eaten up with jealousy? SangoxMiroku


First Inuyasha fic! I'm currently having a block with my Neji-Tenten fic, so I switched to this one so I can put my ideas clear. The action in this fic situates right after manga chapters 357-358 (the medicine seller arc).

There will be swearing in this fic, but it's Inuyasha's fault!

* * *

The forest was plunged in a deep tranquillity. Five people could be seen walking peacefully through it. Opening the way were Miroku, the infamous lecher monk, and Sango, the last of demon's slayers tribe, who was carrying her demon pet Kirara. Behind them a bored looking Kagome with little Shippo at her shoulder walked beside the half demon Inuyasha. He had noticed her expression a few moments ago, but when she shook her head for the third time he finally asked:

"What's the matter Kagome? You're making me nervous with your fucking shaking!"

Kagome looked at him; shot a glance to the pair they were following and spoke quietly to make sure she wasn't heard "I'm disappointed. For a moment, when Sango-chan was with the medicine seller, I thought it was her best opportunity!"

"What do you mean?"

"Miroku-sama was jealous and worried! That's how Sango-chan is always feeling when he goes to 'investigate'! She had the perfect chance to get revenge and she let it pass! " she hissed frustrated.

"Keh! Sango is way nicer than you" he commented while Shippo nodded silently.

"That's not the point! If she wants Miroku-sama to change why she doesn't try it?"

"Do you call beating the crap out of him every time she catches him with a girl not trying?"

"But she has seen it doesn't work! The best way is to pay with the same coin! And I'm going to do it for her sake!" she smiled evilly and rubbed her hands.

"You sure are a busybody bitch" the half demon said disparagingly.

"Inuyasha! SIT!" she roared.

He slammed strongly the floor and started shouting all the swearwords he knew (and there were a lot), while Kagome bickered back. Miroku and Sango turned to observe the scene they were so used to see.

"There they go again" Miroku commented.

"Well, every couple has its own way to show they care" Sango said.

"Indeed" he nodded while caressing her bottom distractedly.

Sango's eyebrow twitched for some moments before slapping him with her free hand. She looked at his reddening face. _"Why is he always doing this? Is he really serious towards me or not?" _She released a heavy sigh from the bottom of her lungs and resumed her walking, leaving him behind and petting Kirara.

This action froze both Kagome and Miroku. Didn't the village's girl they found sigh in disappointment every time she saw her husband's face? Was Sango under the spell of the medicine seller too? Kagome stopped insulting Inuyasha and smiled, seeing her opportunity to make Sango get revenge. She jogged passing a worried Miroku and reached Sango, adjusting her pace and grinning at her.

"Hey, Sango-chan" she elbowed Sango lightly

"What's the matter Kagome-chan?"

"Why did you sigh so deeply?"

Sango shrugged "Well, it's the same thing…" "_After everything we have passed and everything Houshi-sama has told me I feel like nothing has changed between us. I know he cares for me deeply, but I bet he'll disappear chasing for girls at the first chance"_ she thought absently.

"Do you trust me?" Kagome asked suddenly, taking her from her thoughts

"Of course!"

"Then, do everything I'm going to tell you, ok?"

"But, why?"

"Just do it Sango-chan! Believe me, this is a master plan!"

"If you say so…"

Sango listened to everything Kagome told her and nodded. Some of her orders were kind of strange, but the demon killer finally accepted. At a safe distance behind them, Inuyasha, Miroku and Shippo walked slowly.

"Do you hear what they are saying?" the monk asked Inuyasha.

"No. I could if I wanted, but I'm not paying attention"

"Could you…"

"No. I'm not going to spy on them for you." The half demon crossed his arms frowning.

Miroku sighed and observed the two girls. Kagome smiled and tapped Sango on her shoulder. The demon slayer smiled weakly as the school girl took her arm and quickened their pace to reach the nearby village. The group arrived shortly afterwards to the small town and gathered at the entrance to decide what they would do.

"I'd like to spend here the night and sleep under a roof…taking a bath would be great too" Kagome sighed.

"Keh! We don't have money to pay that, don't we Miroku?"

"I'm afraid not" Miroku took out the wallet from his robes and counted the money "we could divide and investigate to see if we can earn some money exorcising a house or something like that" he suggested.

"That's a great idea!" Kagome clapped her hands.

Miroku glanced from the corner of his eye at a group of village girls "Well, I'll go that way" he said pointing with his staff to where the girls were talking. He waited for Sango's reaction and saw she opened her mouth to speak _"There she goes. She's gonna beat me and come with me…I just wanted to speak with those girls to see if they had a problem!" _

"Ok, I'll go over that way to investigate too" Sango said pointing to the opposite way and showing no signs of jealousy. "We'll gather here in one hour to see what we do" She turned and started walking, followed by Kirara.

"See you in a while!" Kagome waved and left with Inuyasha and Shippo.

Miroku stood there for some seconds, blinking several times. The only thing visible of Sango at that moment was the top of her Hiraikotsu moving further away. The monk turned and headed to the girls with a smile.

* * *

"So, you're a demon slayer too, Houshi-sama?" one of the girls clung to Miroku's arm.

"Sort of…" he smiled, a little bored. He looked at the position of the sun and saw it was almost time to gather. If he was late, Sango would kill him! "Well misses, I'm afraid I have to leave you" he said standing up.

"Nooo, Houshi-sama!" the girls pouted.

"Believe me when I say it's harder for me, but I have business to attend. Don't forget the promise you made me!" he winked and bowed, walking away from them _"This is not so exciting when Sango isn't around…speaking of which…"_ He saw the demon slayer's back and trembled furiously. She was gonna kill him for sure! What was she doing there, standing? He noticed she hasn't seen him and hided to avoid his death and to fill his own curiosity. A young man went out from the nearby food stand with three dango sticks and smiled, handing one of them to her and another one to Kirara. Miroku's eyebrow twitched in annoyance but remained hidden, watching as she turned frowning as if checking something _"What the hell is happening here?" _the monk thought bitterly.

Sango felt a killing aura and turned trying to determine its source. He checked the crowd but found no one suspicious.

"Umm…Sango-dono? It's something wrong?" the young man, Takeda, asked.

She turned to him again and shook her head, smiling to him "Sorry Takeda-san. You're being very nice to me and Kirara"

"Well, the truth is I need a demon slayer. I think one of the rooms at my house it's doomed. I'll pay you nicely if you exorcise it, and you can spend the night there." Takeda's smile widened.

Sango blinked confused as she felt the killing aura from before rising again at her back. She turned but found nothing, so she addressed her companion again. "It's very nice from you, but I have four more companions and we always work together"

His eyes shone with disappointment for some moments, but he quickly recovered and smiled again "No problem at all Sango-dono. Let's meet your companions"

They started walking to the meeting spot; Sango felt the presence intermittently, but decided to ignore it. They finally arrived to the place they were heading, finding Inuyasha, Shippo and Kagome already there.

"Sango-chan!" Kagome waved merrily and spotted Takeda.

"Hey Sango! Where's the bouzu?" Inuyasha asked.

Sango did as Kagome told her; showed no emotion and shrugged "How I'm supposed to know? We went different ways" she dropped the subject and pointed to the man beside her "Kagome-chan, Inuyasha, Shippo; this is Takeda-san, and has offered us a job"

"I'd be delighted if you could free me from my problem. I'll accommodate you at my house as my honour guests. We'll head towards there once your last companion arrives"

He hadn't finished saying those words when Miroku appeared behind Sango and him with a threatening look only Kagome noticed. When they turned to see him, his face returned to his usual (but this time, fake) happy expression and waved.

"I'm sorry for being late. Some of this village's girls needed my holy powers" he glanced at Sango but saw no change in her face when she pointed her companion.

"This is Takeda-san. We'll be staying at his house and exorcise one of the rooms" she said.

Takeda bowed and motioned them to start walking "Ladies first please, I'll give you directions"

Kagome, with Shippo at her shoulder, and Sango, with Kirara in her arms, headed the group, followed by Miroku with Takeda by his side and Inuyasha closing the formation. Miroku watched carefully at the man beside him. He was nearly as tall as him, with short black hair and big brown eyes. Miroku thought disdainfully girls would define him as "cute", with his soft freckles on his nose and his dumb smile. He didn't know why (well, maybe he knew), but the monk didn't like Takeda at all. That feeling increased when he followed his gaze and discovered his eyes were locked on Sango's butt. His frown deepened precisely when the young man started talking to him.

"How long have you been travelling together?" Takeda asked to start a conversation.

"Quite a bit" Miroku responded.

"I see…Is Sango-dono a good demon slayer? I'm afraid I hired in the past a lot of people to exorcise the room, but no one was able to"

"Sango is the best at her work. Besides, all of us specialize in killing demons too"

"Good to hear that. It's the first time I see a female demon slayer. I've never imagined one as Sango-dono" he commented

"What did you expect?"

"Somebody much less feminine. She seems almost fragile, except for her giant boomerang"

"I assure you, Takeda-san, she's strong and not only in women standards. Actually, we're a very tough group, so stop worrying"

"Ok, Houshi-sama, I didn't want to offend you" Takeda smiled at him.

Miroku inclined his head accepting his apology and looked at the front, ending the conversation. His frown was still there, and he knew Takeda noticed the monk didn't like him. They finally arrived at the big house, where some servants started to serve them the tea. Miroku made them the usual question ("Would you bear my child?"), but when it didn't earn the usual Hiraikotsu's hit on his head, he finally got worried. Sango seemed to not pay attention to his interaction with the maidens (although she was beside him), and was listening carefully to Takeda's words.

"So the room makes noises all the nights, and when somebody attends to enter is spelled with ferocity, isn't it?" she asked.

"Yes, these things start happening exactly at midnight every night. That's why I recommend you to have a bath and rest until that time" Takeda offered kindly.

"That's great! We'll follow your advice, Takeda-san!" Kagome beamed.

"Take a bath you first, Kagome-san. I'm going to take a walk over the surroundings" Sango stood up and bowed.

"I can accompany you if you wish" the master offered.

"I don't want to cause you any trouble"

"It's not problem at all" he said standing.

Once they left the room, Kagome, Inuyasha and Shippo stared at Miroku. The monk was glaring at the closed door until he felt the three pairs of eyes fixed on him. He looked at them and raised his eyebrows.

"What?" he asked.

"Are you leaving them alone, Miroku?" Inuyasha asked.

Miroku grabbed his staff, motioned to stand up and spoke with dignity "Of course. Sango is able to detect a fool in miles. She won't get impressed"

"Then I don't understand why she likes you" Shippo commented. The only thing he knew later was he had a large bump on his head, courtesy of Miroku, and started crying in pain.

"You're mean Miroku-sama! Sit!" Kagome roared; making Miroku look at her while Inuyasha met the floor violently.

"Sit?" the monk cocked and eyebrow.

A large sweat drop appeared at Kagome's head as she laughed apologetically "It's the habit"

"KA-GO-MEEE" Inuyasha growled trying to get his face from the floor.

When Miroku headed towards the door too, she stopped him "Wait, Miroku-sama. You can't tell the master Sango-chan and you are engaged!"

"Why?" he asked a little bothered.

"Because we have this work thanks to Takeda-san liking Sango-chan. It's better if he keeps thinking he has an opportunity" she reasoned.

Miroku frowned and spoke before leaving the room "For the time being, I'll follow your advice, Kagome-sama"

He started walking over the gardens, a little upset because of Kagome's comment. He was the one that never spoke about their engagement, but he didn't like to be ordered. He sighed and walked until he spotted his fiancée alone, kneeled and inspecting carefully the ground.

"Are there any clues?" he asked smiling warmly.

"No…" she answered frowning and got up.

"Where did you leave your companion?"

"Who…ah, Takeda-san" she shrugged "I suppose he got bored of seeing me watching the surroundings"

"Bored of watching you? That's impossible, Sango"

She blushed and looked at the other side.

"Kagome-sama told me to let Takeda have his hopes high and don't tell him anything. I suppose that's why you didn't hit me with your Hiraikotsu when I flirted with that maiden" he commented

"His hopes? What maiden?" she turned to look at his face.

"Don't tell me you didn't notice" he said surprised.

"Noticed what?" she asked with sincere curiosity.

"He likes you"

"Takeda-san? No way"

"I've seen the way he looks at you"

She shrugged "I don't care; I'm not giving him any hopes. I'm treating him like I treat everyone"

"That's the problem, Sango. You're too lovable" he crossed his arms.

"Look who's talking, the pervert monk. You're too nice with the girls" she said bitterly.

"Ha! I knew you were jealous" he smiled

"No, not anymore…" she sighed and walked away.

"Hey, what does that mean? Sango! Wait!" Miroku followed her until she entered the bathroom, closing the door on his face.

He felt a little depressed and went back where the rest of them were reunited, finding a clean and happy looking Kagome, Inuyasha, Shippo and Takeda. The young man spoke at the moment the monk entered.

"Houshi-sama! Kagome-dono explained to me your relationship with Sango-dono and why you're so over protective towards her" he exclaimed.

"Did she?" Miroku asked looking at Kagome, who made a strange face.

"I know you noticed I like Sango-dono; but you don't have to worry, I have good intentions" when Miroku put a surprised face he continued hurriedly "As her big brother, you only want the best for her, and I'm sure I'll be able to convince you to let me court her" he ended bowing.

While Takeda bowed, Miroku glared at Kagome and she pleaded him with her eyes to keep the scheme.

"Well, Takeda-san, accompany me to take a walk to discuss it" he offered with fake kindness.

Kagome and Shippo panicked silently while Inuyasha observed everything with boredom. Miroku went out again followed by Takeda and the two young men started walking over the garden. They sat on a rock and Takeda glanced nervously at him.

"Kagome-sama has told you right, Takeda-san. I care deeply for Sango, and you have to understand why I don't like men being around her"

"I understand, Houshi-sama"

"The best way to show me your good intentions is not coming near her" Miroku said.

"But, well, although she's your sister I'm sure you realized she's very beautiful, Houshi-sama"

"Of course. To me, she's the most beautiful woman I know; that's why I won't permit anyone to disturb her."

"I won't disturb her! I only want to know her a little more, Houshi-sama" Takeda pleaded.

Miroku stared at him severely. Kagome's face came into his mind ('let him have false hopes or we'll get fired!') and sighed "Ok, you can keep being around her, but I warn you two things. First: Sango is very special with men. You could say she has an odd taste choosing them. Second…if I consider you're harassing or disturbing her, even only a little…" Miroku's bangs covered his eyes; he unsealed his right hand and directed his extended palm to the big tree, sucking it violently in seconds. He closed his fist again and looked directly at Takeda's terrified face "…I'll show you my palm. Did I make myself clear?"

Takeda nodded furiously between beads of sweat and gulped. Miroku recovered his (fake) merry face "Well" he said in a happy voice "let's get back then"

Meanwhile, in the bathroom, Sango snoozed peacefully oblivious to everything that was happening around her.

* * *

Whoa, long chapter! Sorry for grammar mistakes, English is not my first language. Tell me the most serious, please, so I can improve my English. Thank you: D

Next chapter: the doomed room! SHAM SHAM! Sango's interaction with her "big brother" and much more!

Comments, corrections, questions and opinions in general are very welcome: )


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